‘It’s a Mardi Gras thing’: Local shops bake up King cakes for Fat Tuesday

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King cakes are traditionally cinnamon-flavored dough with nuts, and always decorated in green, purple and gold icing or sprinkles. The colors of Mardi Gras represent justice (purple), faith (green) and power (gold).

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

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Bethel Bakery began selling King cakes in 1991, and the Mardi Gras treat is as popular today as ever. Along with the classic cake, available in stores through Feb. 13 while supplies last, the bakery also offers miniature King cakes and the ever-popular pre-Lenten sweet, paczki.

Courtesy of Bethel Bakery

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Every year, Southwestern Pennsylvanians look forward to the shelves of local bakeries being stocked with – and quickly emptied of – paczki, a Polish donut stuffed with rich fillings, from early January through the start of Lent.

But in recent years, another decadent dessert has been noticeably trending: King cakes – large, circular danishes whose decorations border on garish and delight both the eyes and the tastebuds.

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

King cakes are circular pastries that local bakeries serve stuffed with apricot, cream cheese, raspberry or other fillings, that date back to at least the 12th century.

“People love the colors. The colors are really bright: the greens, purples and yellows,” said Natalie Lacek, marketing coordinator for Bethel Bakery. “They have a nice symbolization. People grew up eating King cakes with family, it’s something they’re carrying on. It’s just a fun product, a different type of product that we don’t carry every single day.”

Traditionally, King cakes are cinnamon-flavored and adorned with tri-color glaze or sprinkles (or both), and oftentimes bejeweled in Mardi Gras beads. The dessert’s decor, from its donut-y shape to the plastic baby seated atop the purple, gold and green or hidden within the pastry’s folds, is a nod to its history.

The confection, one tradition holds, dates to about 12th century France, when early Europeans baked a circular cake to honor the three wise men – three kings – who brought gifts to baby Jesus (hence, that plastic baby). The dessert was consumed 12 days after Christmas, on the Feast of the Epiphany, or King’s Day.

The plastic baby, then, refers to baby Jesus.

“You put one baby in the cake. Whoever gets the slice of cake with the baby in it is supposed to have good luck,” said Kristy Vliet, who owns 5 Kidz Kandy along High Street in Waynesburg.

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Legend has it that whoever finds the baby in his or her slice of King cake will have good luck – or have to host the next party, depending on who you ask. “They’re just really good for parties,” said Ashley Wingard, of Emma’s Bake Shoppe in Uniontown. “The most fun part? For people, I think it’s getting the baby.”

Another history tells of European Catholics who celebrated Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) by emptying their home of the foods from which they would abstain during Lent, including dairy and eggs. Those ingredients were baked into a pastry and enjoyed before fasting began.

When Catholicism entered the Roman empire, the Church and Rome blended Lenten tradition with the pagan festival Saturnalia to create Mardi Gras, a raucous celebration that serves as a last hurrah before the start of the sober Lenten season.

“Mardi Gras” is French for “Fat Tuesday,” and it is the one day of the year 5 Kidz Kandy sells King cakes.

“We always do a Fat Tuesday party. We always do beignets, King cakes, jambalaya, Po’ Boys,” Vliet said. “We have groups of people who come in together. They’ll each order a slice (of Kings cake) to see if any of them get the baby.”

It’s fun for the customers and for Vliet, who also offers whole King cakes people can drop in and purchase to take to the office, to a Mardi Gras party or home for dinner.

“It’s Fat Tuesday. It’s a very good day to eat,” Vliet laughed. “Everybody, before Lent starts, everybody wants to get all their sweets in.”

Courtesy of 5 Kidz Kandy

One day out of the year, during its Mardi Gras celebration, 5 Kidz Kandy offers purple, yellow and green King cakes to customers who drop by to sample the store’s variety of New Orleans-inspired menu items or simply to indulge in the colorful pastry.

But until a couple years ago, not everybody knew what a King cake was, said Ashley Wingard, who works at Emma’s Bake Shoppe in Uniontown.

The shop has offered King cakes since it opened on Mt. Vernon Avenue in 2014. Last year, demand for the green, purple and gold-glazed pastries skyrocketed.

“Last year, he (Jason Stillwagon) only made so many of them, and two hours later, we were sold out,” laughed Wingard, Stillwagon’s fiance. “People were calling all day.”

Wingard credits social media with popularizing the bakery’s Mardi Gras special.

“I’m thinking people were just starting to know what they were,” she said. “A lot of people, when we posted on Facebook, didn’t know what they were.”

The pastry, Wingard said, is fun for parties, because lore has it that whoever finds the baby in their slice has to host the next get-together.

“It’s a Mardi Gras thing,” Stillwagon added.

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Like Emma’s Bake Shoppe in Uniontown, Giant Eagle’s King cakes come with the plastic, luck-bearing baby taped to the container, for customers to place inside their pastry before serving to family and friends.

That Mardi Gras thing has been offered at Giant Eagle for decades, said Dan Donovan, senior director of public relations and sports partnerships. The local chain started baking up the colorful confection last week and will have King cakes available through Feb. 13.

“They have consistently been popular with many customers throughout western Pennsylvania and other regions we serve,” Donovan said in an email. “We most often associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans. King cakes offer customers a delicious way to participate in the Mardi Gras celebration from the comfort of their home, workplace or anywhere else.”

Other local bakeries, including Krency’s in Washington, will have King cakes available – many on a first-come, first-serve basis – tomorrow, Fat Tuesday. For some, the colorful danish with its plastic baby garnish is the best and perhaps only way to truly celebrate Mardi Gras.

Courtesy of Bethel Bakery

Along with the baby, Bethel Bakery hides a gold coin in its King cakes. The person who finds a gold coin in their slice of colorful cake will, legend has it, have good luck for the year.

“We have had people asking, even a few months ago, before they were announced, ‘When do your cakes start?'” Lacek said. “They’re definitely in demand. People love them.”